This research is designed to assess the impact of the retirement process on the physical, mental and social functioning of older adults. Using a longitudinal and cross-sequential survey research design, various phases in the retirement process will be linked with symptoms of aging and patterns of social adaptation. Care will be taken to separate the effects of retirement, per se, from the effects of other social factors such as widowhood, income decline, or physical decline. An important byproduct of this approach will be the accumulation of descriptive information on phases of adjustment to widowhood, income decline, and physical decline. Information will also be collected on the extent to which retirement combines with these other factors to produce cumulative effects. Care will also be taken to assess whether retirement affects symptoms of aging and social adjustment directly or through an intervening variable of generalized stress.